Tag: autistic

Autism and Synesthesia

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

This week I’d like to discuss an unusual phenomenon that is experienced by approximately 19% of autists (compared with 4-7% of neurotypicals)- Synesthesia.

So what exactly is it?

Synesthesia is a rare neurological phenomenon where triggering one sense involuntarily stimulates another sense e.g., tasting colours, hearing shapes, perceiving words and numbers as colours etc.

Aoife, why do I feel like you’re starting to make up autistic conditions?

I know, it sounds wild but it’s a real thing! Famous synesthetes include numerous musicians such as Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Brendon Urie, Kanye West, Jimi Hendrix and Charli XCX, artist David Hockney and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

There are two main types of Synesthesia-sensory and cognitive/conceptual

  • Sensory Synesthesia– when one sense triggers another. Examples:
    • Auditory-tactile synesthesia– when sounds trigger touch-like sensations such as pain, pressure or temperature changes
    • Sound-color synesthesia– where you hear sounds as colours
    • Mirror-touch synesthesia– where you physically feel something that you see happen to someone else e.g., you see someone stub their toe and feel pain in your own toe
  • Cognitive/Conceptual Synesthesia- when senses get combined with semantic triggers, like numbers, letters, or time units. Examples:
    • Day-color synesthesia– where you associate days of the week with a particular colour
    • Time-space/spatial sequence synesthesia– where you visualize things in a very specific way, like seeing units of time in 3D shapes or colours e.g., 5+6= yellow

Some synesthetes have one form of synesthesia, while others will experience multiple forms.

In my own experience, I have some tendencies towards synesthesia. I associate some things like bands and people with colours- I always saw Muse as blue, Paramore as fuchsia, one of my colleagues as purple etc. I’ve also been known to describe tastes how something smells and vice versa. As discussed previously, I have an excellent sporadic eidetic memory. During my research for this blog, I’ve discovered that synesthetes also have excellent, vivid memories as their enhanced recall is tied to their heightened sensory perceptions and associations. Perhaps this explains why my memory works the way it does as I’ve always been able to recall very detailed memories by thinking of colours, outfits, smells, tastes, specific dates etc.

But why are neurodivergents more likely to experience synesthesia than neurotypicals?

As with many other co-morbid conditions, it appears that there may be a genetic overlap between the genes that cause autism and the genes that cause synesthesia. Moreover, the hyperconnectivity between different regions of the autistic brain (caused by a lack of synaptic pruning), can cause the heightened sensory sensitivity that leads to this blending of sensory stimuli.

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings! 🙂

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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Autistic Barbie

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

This week I’d like to talk about something rather unexpected-the first autistic Babie doll! 😀

I know what you’re thinking, Aoife, how can you make a Barbie look autistic? Well the folks at Mattel have certainly given it a try!

As part of their efforts to make Barbie more accessible to every child, Mattel collaborated with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) to make a doll that would allow autistic children to see something of themselves in Barbie.

So what’s unique about autistic Barbie?

  • She wears noise cancelling headphones, loose clothing (with no labels) and a spinnable fidget ring
  • Carries an augmented and alternative communication (AAC) application that speaks aloud when buttons are pressed (kind of like the rapid prompting method)
  • She has a sideways gaze indicating that she doesn’t make direct eye contact (it’s very subtle)
  • Has flat feet and does not wear heels unlike OG Barbie (which is accurate given issues with gait and coordination)
  • Has bendable elbows and hands allowing you to make the doll stim during playtime. Her finger positions are also atypical as if her hands are about to stim.
    • Side observation- the way you can bend her hands and arms around is a little unnatural. While this is probably a coincidence, it is accurate as many autists do have hypermobile joints

You can check out a video about the new Barbie here:

The response from the autistic community has been polarizing. Some are thrilled to see such representation in a doll, some see it is a money grab given that autism is in fashion, while others think it’s an insult when what we really need is more investment in support services. In particular there have been a lot of concerns about how this doll misrepresents autistic women, especially given how many issues there have been with visibility.

Autistic psychologist Dr Kristyn Sommer has said: “I had hoped this Barbie was not going to be labelled autistic because it is every single stereotype of what is a palatable autistic girl and that isn’t true representation or visibility for autistic girls. It’s making them fit into a neuro-normative box yet again while simultaneously destroying one of the few safe spaces they have to just be themselves — their own imaginative world with their (already) autistic Barbies.“

But what did I think of autistic Barbie?

Personally, while the concept is great in theory, I didn’t really see the point of the doll and felt it was a little bit of a gimmicky, woke move by Mattel. Physically, autists don’t look any different to neurotypical Barbie, so I don’t really see the visibility issue that you would have with size, skin tone, or wheelchair users. Granted, I was not diagnosed until adulthood so autism wasn’t on the radar back when I played with Barbie, but were I a child today, I don’t think I would have seen a need for the doll either.

On another level, I worry that while Barbie is striving for diversity after years of stereotyping, I agree with the community that this doll may inadvertently perpetuate autistic stereotypes. I for one do not require ear defenders, don’t need a communication device nor do I tend to favour loose clothing (I’m quite fond of skinny jeans). Whilst there are indeed many autists who do fit Barbie’s description, it does further promote autistic stereotypes that are not relevant for higher functioning autists, especially women. We don’t fit into a box like Barbie, we would need a range of different autistic Barbie’s like the creative autist, animal whisperer or nerdcore Barbie. For example ChatGPT thinks the Aoife Barbie would probably look a little something like this:

I also found that the packaging wasn’t the most autism friendly. It was very fiddly and I ended up accidentally cutting off some of her hair trying to get the plastic tags off 🙈It’s really not practical to put those thin plastic tags that they use to put price tags on clothes into a Barbie’s head, I had to push the remnants into her skull I couldn’t completely get them off. I do not remember it being this hard to unbox a Barbie back in the 90’s! 🤣

All in all, while I’m not the biggest fan of the concept, it was a lot of fun to return to my childhood for a while- athough I must say, I don’t remember Barbie being so tall, or having walkable legs. Making her hop was half the fun!

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

Aoife

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Autism and Intrusive Sleep

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

To kickstart 2026, this week I’m going to take a look at the issue of autism and intrusive sleep.

So what exactly is that when it’s at home?

As discussed in my previous post on sleep and autism, 40 to 80% of autists experience issues with sleep. Intrusive sleep (not to be confused with narcolepsy) occurs when you suddenly experience drowsiness or involuntarily lose consciousness, a phenomenon that is usually triggered by boredom/loss of interest in autists with co-morbid ADHD (aka AuDHD). Also known as theta wave intrusion, this phenomenon occurs when slow theta brain waves associated with relaxation, meditation and deep sleep are triggered by a boring task, causing the brain to abruptly disengage, and you to nod off. Essentially these theta waves act as bridges between consciousness and wakefulness.

So many college lectures drifting in and out of consciousness are starting to make sense!

For much of my adult life I’ve struggled with daytime sleepiness hitting me at the most unfortunate times- in the middle of lectures, in crowded theatres during a musical, and several times throughout the work day, especially when dealing with monotonous tasks. I always thought it was due to a lack of sleep the previous night (and as a night owl admittedly, it often is), but I’ve noticed it happening more and more despite having a decent nights sleep. One minute I’m working away, the next I get the sudden urge to take a nap. Conversely if I’m engaged and stimulated, I could be running on 3 hours of sleep and not feel in the least bit sleepy!

But is there any reason the neurodivergent brain is susceptible to intrusive sleep?

People with autism and ADHD tend to have excess theta waves compared with neurotypicals particularly in the frontal cortex of the brain. Higher levels of theta are associated with lower levels of fast beta brainwaves which are needed for focus and alertness, making neurodivergent brains more prone to intrusive sleep and other sleep disturbances.

So don’t judge me too harshly the next time you see me struggling to stay awake in the middle of the day 🫠

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings! 🙂

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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Christmas greetings 2025

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

How has is the year over already?! Time is moving way too fast as we hurtle towards 9 years of this blog next month.

As always, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers for their continued support this year. I appreciate each and every one of you that takes the time to stop by to read or leave comments, I see them all.

Wishing you and yours all the best for the festive season!

See you in 2026!

Aoife

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Autism in your social circle

Greetings Earthlings!

This week I’d like to talk about something that a lot of neurodivergents have observed in their social circle- that lot’s of our friends are also neurodivergent! Prior to my autism diagnosis, I did not have any friends on the spectrum, or so I thought… Over the past 11 years, many of my friends have sought or are currently seeking autism and ADHD assessments. In the last year alone I’ve had four friends seek my advice about getting diagnosed.

During my school years, I didn’t really have a core group of close friends; people just didn’t get me, nor I them. Going to university opened up an entirely new world, widening my social pool and enabling me to meet more likeminded people. I quickly found tribes of friends who were equally quirky with similar interests that I connected with on a level that I couldn’t explain. We would connect within minutes as if we had known each other our whole lives, feeling completely comfortable in each others presence, unknowingly unmasking.

After my diagnosis, I slowly started to notice common autistic traits among my friends. At first I thought it was funny when friends would say the more they listened to me talking about my traits, the more paranoid they became that they had autism, but now I see the grains of truth. I’ve spoken about this with my neurodivergent friends and they have also noticed similar patterns in their social circles.

There isn’t really any research on this topic, but it seems that there is a general pattern of neurospicy birds of a feather flocking together. Autists tend towards sameness and familiarity, so naturally our social preferences also mimic these patterns. Studies have shown that friends tend to have similar brain activity patterns called neural synchrony- so on a biological level, we are designed to seek out minds that are similar to our own. In addition, studies have shown that our noses play an important part in forming friendships as we tend to gravitate towards people with natural scent profiles similar to our own. Given how autists are sensitive to smell, it’s fair to say that perhaps our nose is handpicking neurodivergent friends for us!

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

Aoife

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Autism in ‘The Unbreakable Boy’

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

This week I’d like to take a look at autism in the film ‘The Unbreakable Boy‘ based on the book ‘The Unbreakable Boy: A Father’s Fear, a Son’s Courage, and a Story of Unconditional Love’ by Scott Michael LeRette and Susy Flory.

Starring Zachary Levi, the film tells the true story of Scott and Susy’s experiences as first time parents to Austin who has both Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and autism. The film gives us an honest depiction of the ups and downs of caring for a child with needs like Austin’s and the strain that this can put on the family unit.

You can see a trailer for the film below:

So how did I rate the films depiction of autism?

It’s always interesting to see how Hollywood will handle an adaptation of a true story about an autistic child, but this film did a pretty good job. Keeping with the current trend in autistic representation, Austin is played by autistic actor Jacob Laval (who also happens to have Osteogenesis imperfecta) which always helps to truly translate the autistic experience. In the film, we get to see some of the classic signs of autism we’re used to like lining up toys and counting them, nerdy specialist interests like Star Wars and dinosaurs, violent meltdowns, OCD, food issues and literal thinking. I did get a chortle when Austin is told he was asked to do something 100 times for him to respond that it’s only been 4 times 🤣

However, the film does showcase some lesser known autistic traits like constant talking (which is rare given how often we’re presented with the non-verbal/introverted autist), tendencies towards daydreaming and fantasies, issues with hand-eye coordination, and sensory issues around clothing. In one particular scene, Austin takes off all of his clothes in the bathroom at church- a behaviour that’s common among some autists who struggle with clothing sensitivity.

The real Scott and Austin at the film premiere

On another level, while I don’t know much about the author, Scott’s character in the film certainly shows some higher functioning autistic traits himself, which is often true for parents of autists. Throughout the film, Scott struggles to cope with parenthood and develops issues with substance abuse to get through. There’s also a throwaway comment about money being wasted on Scott’s hobbies and gadgets which could be a subtle indicator of specialist interests. However, a lot of critics have remarked that focusing on Scott’s experiences in the movie tend to sideline Austin who is the primary focus of the book.

Whilst the film was a fairly lackluster affair (it doesn’t quite hit the warm and fuzzy wholesome feels you’d expect from this type of film), the depiction of autism and the strains it places on the family unit are fairly spot on, charting the highs and lows that come from life on the spectrum.

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings! 🙂

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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Google Accessibility Discovery Centre (ADC)

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

This week I’d like to talk about a recent trip I took to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre (ADC) in Dublin- the first of it’s kind in the EU. Now I know you might be wondering what a trip to Google has to do with autism- but bear with me!

So the ADC is a dedicated space where researchers and engineers develop new technologies that can help people with disabilities including those with autism. Not only do they develop new technologies, Google also uses this space to engage more effectively with disability communities to better understand our needs. The space is specifically designed to facilitate different disabilities- it’s wheelchair accessible, the colour scheme was designed to suit different disabilities with muted tones, and the lighting can be easily adjusted for sensitivities.

There were a number of really cool, innovative technologies that will really help the quality of life for people with physical disabilities including games that can be controlled with a chin joystick and ones that track eye movements- you can literally drive a car on the screen using your eyes! They are also working on some amazing tools for those with nonverbal autism such as a picture based program where you can click on images to make sentences (kind of like the rapid prompting method). You can see this in the image below:

They also showed us around their suite of accessibility tools and extensions available when using Google Chrome, including dyslexic font to help make reading easier- who knew such things could exist?🤯 One of my favourite parts of the tour was the neurodivergent corner where they had a range of nifty sensory toys you could play with which were great for stimming. They also had some glasses for light sensitivity issues, loop earplugs and a sliding social battery pin- which I could really do with getting my hands on 🤣.

It is a really cool facility and it’s great to see new dedicated spaces like these that are working on making life easier for neurodivergents and others with disabilities. If you’d like to tour the ADC, you can email Google at adc-dublin@google.com to set it up- I highly recommend the experience! 😀

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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Paracetamol and Autism

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

It is with my face cupped in my hands that I write this post for you after the latest “recommendations” coming from the States in recent weeks. In case you’ve been living under a rock, US president Donald Trump and RFK Jr., announced that there is a link between the use of paracetamol (also known as Tylenol) during pregnancy and the development of autism 🤦🏻‍♀️Historically this has been the safest drug that a woman can take during pregnancy to treat pain and fever (from infection), but now the Trump administration is slapping a warning label on this essential medication to scare women about the risk of autism when they’re at their most vulnerable.

So let’s separate fact from fiction- what does the research actually say?

Experts and researchers across the world have come out against these recommendations as the evidence largely does not support a causal link between autism and paracetamol. With regard to the current literature, there are often conflicting results in studies as it’s very hard to pin down accurate usage rates from medical records alone as paracetamol is an over the counter drug. Moreover, as it’s often used to treat other conditions, it’s hard to determine if any increase in autism rates is linked to the drug or the condition that paracetamol was used to treat. One of the largest studies of this type examined data from 2.5 million Swedish children from 1995-2019 to see if rates of paracetamol usage aligned with autism diagnoses. This study found that there was an increased likelihood, buuutttt not by much- 1.42% of children exposed to paracetamol were autistic versus 1.33% in those who were not exposed. I don’t think a 0.09% increased risk of autism is anything to write home about!

Sibling studies were also conducted to compare pregnancies where paracetamol had been given for one but not the other. These were performed as siblings are raised in the same environment, share genetic traits, and the health of the mother would have been similar for both pregnancies, removing a lot of factors that can influence the development of autism. This makes it easier to tell if paracetamol is having an impact in pregnancy. No links were found between the drug and autism in these studies.

On another note, researchers are of the opinion that the latest review of the research being pushed by the Trump administration hasn’t used the most robust of research methods. A more rigorous review of higher quality research was published on this topic earlier this year, and again, found no clinically significant risk of developing autism after paracetamol exposure in utero. The conflicting results seem to indicate a motivated agenda- and we all know how well that worked out last time with vaccines…

Research aside, telling a pregnant woman to “tough it out” instead of taking paracetamol is simply not good enough. High fever in pregnancy can be extremely dangerous, increasing the risk of complications like miscarriage, preterm birth, or neural tube defects (congenital malformations of the brain and spine such as spina bifida and Anencephaly- a fatal brain defect where parts of the brain don’t fully develop). If doctors are discouraged from administering this vital medication, the outcomes could be so much worse for the baby than autism. It beggars belief that Trump essentially deems the risk of autism to be worse than death. Even more so given that most experts agree that the American president himself is on the spectrum!

The important thing to remember about the research is that this link, however miniscule, is just an association. Just because it’s associated with autism, does not make it the cause. My mother, and thousands of others on social media, never took paracetamol during pregnancy, but all of them have children on the spectrum. If you’re an expectant mother, don’t let Trump scare you into avoiding paracetamol if you require it. Listen to your care provider and make the best decision for your health and your baby’s.

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

Aoife

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Autism and Homelessness

Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

Leading on from my previous post about autism and employment, this week I’d like to discuss the link between autism and homelessness. I was shocked to learn recently that people with autism are at a higher risk of experiencing and remaining homeless than the general population. Research varies, but estimates of autism in the homeless range from 3%- 18.5%. This is a staggering statistic given that autism in the homed population is roughly 1-2%.

But why are autists more likely to experience homelessness?

As I’ve mentioned previously, 75-85% of autists are unable to find and maintain employment. Moreover, many autists struggle with co-morbid mental health issues and can be more likely to suffer from addiction issues- all of which can be contributing factors for homelessness. As a result of these struggles, autists do not have the same means that neurotypicals do to reduce their risk of homelessness and the ability to change their circumstances once homeless.

Autism is a condition that thrives on routine, stability and regulation of sensory environments which homelessness only serves to exacerbate. The sensory struggles with weather, the unfiltered noise of the city, the nasty smells from your surroundings can be completely overwhelming. Your mental health is on a knife edge and symptoms worsen without support and understanding. Most countries already struggle to provide adequate resources for housed autists and the general homeless population, making it even harder to properly support homeless autists. There is a serious lack of understanding of autism among workers in the homeless sector, especially with regard to the female experience. Surveys among workers in the homeless sector in the UK and Ireland have highlighted these gaps with over 90% of respondents noting the low levels of support for homeless autists and the need for autism specific training.

This is clearly a challenging issue that needs care and consideration to properly support the autistic community in both preventing and reversing homelessness.

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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Autism and Revenge bedtime procrastination (RBP)

Greetings Earthlings!

This week I’d like to discuss something that I have a very bad habit of engaging in- revenge bedtime procrastination.

And what pray tell is that when it’s at home?

You may never have heard of the expression, but it’s something that most 0f us have likely done at some point in our lives, especially for autists. Revenge bedtime procrastination (or RBP) is the deliberate act of putting off sleep in order to reclaim leisure time that was lost during the day, often after a busy and stressful one. The term was first coined on Chinese social media in 2014, where ‘revenge’ comes from taking back time for yourself, however, this behaviour is often self sabotaging resulting in poor sleep quality and deprivation.

For autists in particular, this behaviour is seen as a means of taking back control in a world where we often feel out of it. It’s a coping mechanism of sorts where we engage in this intentional sleep deprivation after an overwhelming day of sensory overload and social obligations. Taking back this time, while self sabotaging, is needed for self soothing, allowing autists to recover from the demands of living in a neurotypical world. Many autists struggle with executive dysfunction and ADHD, so organization and planning can be difficult, often leading to an out of balance day where routine can be difficult to maintain. RBP allows an autist to use their limited time at night for specialist interests and relaxation, where the cost of sleep is considered a worthy investment (or at least perceived as such til the next morning 😴).

I’m especially prone to this type of behaviour- I just wasn’t aware there was a word for it until recently. My schedule can be pretty hectic at times, often rolling home late at night, but despite my tiredness, I have to pull out my phone or a book for a while when I get to bed to veg out and decompress after the day. Other times, I tear into a few rows of knitting late at night, or tell myself I need just an episode or two of whatever show I’m currently binging before I can go to bed. I may be falling down from the tiredness, but there’s just something in me that pushes me to do these things before I turn out the light. Sometimes it’s this need to feel productive in my projects, other times its to zone out. It doesn’t matter how tired I’m going to be in the morning, my brain just needs those extra few minutes of me time.

It may not be the most sensible autistic behaviour, but with all the sleep issues autists experience at night, do whatever you need to do to reset your brain before bed 😌

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife

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